CJEU Case C-678/23 / Judgment
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CJEU Case C-678/23 / Judgment
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Social policy – Directive 89/391/EEC – Safety and health of workers at work – Article 9 – Employers’ obligations – Classification of workplaces according to whether they are exposing workers to risk factors to their safety and health – Article 11(6) – Proceedings before the authority responsible for safety and health protection at work – Effective judicial protection
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Fifth Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 9 and Article 11(6) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work
must be interpreted as meaning that they do not apply to national legislation, as interpreted by the national courts, which precludes a worker from appealing to the national authority responsible for safety and health protection at work or from bringing an action before a national court in order to establish or review the classification, provided for by that legislation, of his or her workplace based on the higher-than-normal risks to his or her health to which he or she is exposed there and from being granted, under that new classification, additional rights in respect of pension rights and paid annual leave.
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Paragraphs referring to EU Charter
54. In that regard, it follows from the title of Council Directive 89/391 and Article 1(1) thereof that the objective of that directive is the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. To that end, as provided in Article 1(2) thereof, that directive sets out general principles concerning the prevention of occupational risks, the protection of safety and health, the elimination of risk and accident factors, the informing, consultation, balanced participation in accordance with national laws and/or practices and training of workers and their representatives, as well as general guidelines for the implementation of those principles. That directive thus reflects and specifies the right of every worker to working conditions which respect his or her health and safety, enshrined in Article 31(1) of the Charter.
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77. As is apparent from paragraph 59 above, if the failure to classify the applicant’s workplace as exposing her to ‘particular [working] conditions’ involved a failure by the employer to carry out a risk assessment, resulting in the employer failing to take the necessary measures to ensure safety and health at work, that failure of classification would have the effect of relieving the employer of the obligations arising from Article 9(1)(a) and (b) of Directive 89/391, which workers should be able to criticise before the authority responsible for safety and health protection at work under Article 11(6) of that directive and, where appropriate, bring an action in respect thereof before the national courts in order to guarantee, under Article 47 of the Charter, effective judicial protection of the rights conferred on workers by that directive.
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Paragraphs referring to EU Charter (original language)